JLA: Classified #11 - New Maps of Hell, Part 2

[dc2houseofmystery]

It's not like I'm doing anything else during isolation, so let's get to New Maps of Hell, Part 2.

We left off with the Trinity in various places. Clark and Lois were investigating a suicide, Batman was investigating a murder, and Wonder Woman was caught up in a massive explosion on Themyscira.

Where are the rest of the Justice League?











You ever think, "Oh, writer X would be really good on character X?" I could totally see Warren Ellis on The Flash. I thought that this entire sequence was so poetic and epic in equal measure, so I had to keep the entire thing in there. Thankfully, the page count of #11 was 1 more than #10, so I could afford to. I think Ellis has a take on any and every character, given enough time. Look at what he did with Moon Knight. Look at his run on Secret Avengers. Heck, look what he's done here.

Anyway, back to the story. Disasters are unfolding everywhere, and we're expanding our cast with each one...



Could you imagine Warren Ellis taking the reins of The Green Lantern for a season after Grant Morrison is done? I could.

Superman deals with a falling space station, Wonder Woman tries to save lives as Themyscira crumbles (this was back in the floating-in-the-sky-island-era), Batman with an exploding bar, etc, etc. And the thing that connects all the explosions? Strange, glowing tablets found at ground zero of each blast. What else is there for the disparate members of the Justice League to do?



Yes, that's right...


Hot damn, do I love this arc. I've skipped over some more amazing Lois and Clark interactions, Batman being a detective, and Wonder Woman being amazing. If I had more pages available, I'd share Butch Guice's panels showcasing these characters in action... they're all so wonderful. These are the comics I want, people. When I write-- I'm currently working on a superhero project of my own, though I'm starting with it as prose-- I keep all the lessons in this arc in mind.

Justice League is go.

To Be Continued.

Comments

[crinos]

I think the best part about this arc is this is the League at their absolute best. No feet of clay, no missteps, no infighting, this is the League as the modern day pantheon of living Gods envisioned by Grant Morrison. They may not be perfect or unstoppable, but you wouldn't know it from this arc, this is the Justice League on point. And you can believe they are the ones who can humble Gods.

[nyadnar17]

Not really much to add other than this is IMO one of quintessential JLA stories. Hell its one of the quintessential team book stories. Its so great.

[mazway_75]

You ever notice how a writer takes on a character they've never done before and manage to make it work better than 95 percent of writers before them? Ellis does that with Flash and GL.

Another great example is when Dr. Strange was in an X-Men annual and Claremont wrote the single best Strange of anyone in the '80s outside of Roger Stern.

[zachbeacon]

I mean it may just be a matter of a writer not knowing when they'll get a chance to play with a character again and using up all their good ideas.

That one She-Hulk issue and the Spider-Man/Human Torch mini are among my favorite Spider-Man comics. Slott's actual run on Amazing Spider-Man was a pretty mixed bag.

But yeah, I actually find it a little annoying when someone "borrows" a character and uses them better than their regular creative team. It feels like editorial is dropping the ball when it comes to assignments.

[mazway_75]

Exactly. I know Claremont busy with X-Men but he could have done wonders with a Strange monthly.

[bruinsfan]

Claremont did write a run on the Dr. Strange bimonthly from late '79 to '81. It was decent, but not groundbreaking. I think he did a better job in that X-Men annual with the character than he ever did in his solo book.

[kd_the_movie]

was there any particular reason why Kyle was depicted wearing armor throughout this whole arc?

[zachbeacon]

Kyle thinks it looks cool?

[crinos]

Yeah I mean remember Kyle is an artist by trade. I imagine if anyone would tweak his costume with little bits and bobs using the GL ring it would be him. Kind of surprised Jon didn't do the same.

[zachbeacon]

Exactly, Kyle has a perfectly in character reason to run off rule of cool but they sidelined him because of Silver Age nostalgia.

[crinos]

Of course we'll see more of this later in this arc during Z's challenge.

[shadur]

I got such an incredible "You're on the Global Frequency" vibe from that last panel, and I love it.